​In my last blog post I shared the websites I use for information about pregnancy and birth.  Now, I’d like to share the influencers and websites that I trust for my own personal health information.  After jumping from one leading podcaster or influencer to the next “greatest” one only to find that what they were presenting wasn’t realistic for me, or wasn’t backed up by evidence. These are the podcasters and influencers I kept coming back to and now follow. They provide evidence based recommendations that are realistic and beneficial in my opinion. 

• Arnold Schwarzenegger, and The Pump Club newsletter.  I find this a great resource for motivation, and for evidence based information on health, fitness, nutrition and for encouragement to live the best life you are capable of.
• Jeff Cavalier’s YouTube channel.  I appreciate the emphasis Jeff has on building muscle, and strength in a healthy, sustainable way.  
• Elizabeth Benton’s podcast. I have listened to her podcast for years. Her focus on creating consistency to achieve your goals has often been just what I have needed to hear.
• Dr. Peter Attia.  I can’t recommend his book Outlive enough.  Dr Attia has a newsletter, and a YouTube channel. I love reading his analysis of studies that are making headlines.  I appreciate his evidence based suggestions and his focus on aging well. 

There is so much information out there about pregnancy, birth and postpartum  Between Google, books, social media, the news, friends, family, and sometimes total strangers who feel they need to give you advice, it can be challenging to know what is trustworthy or evidence based and what is not. 

I have some criteria I use to determine if information is trustworthy that I thought I would share.

• Is there money involved? I've found information being pushed by entities that are using that information to make money. I understand trying to sell a product, but I have issues with manipulating information to support a particular ideology whether it's related to immunizations, or getting your baby to sleep through the night.
• Are sources for the information shared or  are statements made relating to research or evidence without citing the sources? I am skeptical of any research or evidence based claims being made when the sources used for those claims aren't shared.
• One size fits all solutions or this is the only way to do it statements do not make me comfortable. We are all unique and what may work for one person may not work for someone else.
• If the information is based on a study, is there more than one study that got the same or very similar results? Having more than one study showing the same or very similar results indicates the results are reliable.

My favorite websites for pregnancy and birth related information are:

• Evidence Based Birth
• Dr. Sarah Wickham
• The National Institutes of Health
• Cochrane Review
• World Health Organization
• Stanford Health
• The Mayo Clinic
• The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
• Pub Med

As we try to sort through all the information that is available at the touch of our fingertips online, I hope you find my criteria helpful for finding trustworthy, evidence based information. I would love to hear what  criteria you use. You can share your criteria in the comments.